The MLK I Knew — and What Today’s Changemakers Should Learn From Him

Clarence Jones was the person who secreted out the scraps of paper that Martin Luther King, Jr. used to write his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” He wrote part of King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, and he fought to have the transcripts of his FBI-taped conversations with the civil rights leader released under the Freedom of Information Act. With a rare, intimate perspective on King’s leadership, Jones offers insights on the personal toll of social activism, the evolution of the civil rights icon as a leader, and the ways the myth and mystique of his legacy overshadow key aspects of his life and personality — lessons that apply to current social movements at a divided moment in America.

Speakers: Clarence B. Jones, Michele Norris